Rangers GM Jon Daniels: This is our strategy when it comes to scouting prospects

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G.J. McCarthy/Staff Photographer

No. 38: RHP Kameron Loe (20th round, 2002) – The most productive player the Rangers picked in thedisastrous 2002 season, Loe bounced between the bullpen and the rotation from 2004-08. He won 19games with the Rangers, occasionally kept a boa constrictor named Angel in a sack in his locker andwas released after 2008. He went to Japan for one year, but has since found a home in the Milwaukeebullpen.

Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels answered questions in a chat on Thursday. Here are some highlights.

Can you explain in a general sense how the draft board gets put together with such a wide range of players and what the conversations are like in the draft room the day of?

We've got 16 area scouts covering the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada. We have 7 cross checkers who have varying responsibilities (some regional - i.e., midwest, and some national coverage). Then Kip Fagg is our scouting director, and he'll work with AJ Preller, Don Welke, Bobby Crook and others to line everything up. In late May, each area scout addresses the group and goes over every player in his area in detail, answering a lot of tough questions - he's required to know the player/family/situation inside and out. Then Kip will lead a group discussion to rank everyone by position (every RHP, every LHP, every SS, etc). Finally they'll blend those lists together into a comprehensive draft board. There is a lot of thought and preparation that goes into it.

You've drafted/acquired a lot of high-risk, high-reward position players over the past few years, having faith in your lower-level coaches to develop them into the kind of impact players that envisioned when you got them, but so far none of them have really worked out (obviously there's still time for some). Do you attribute this lack of success to poor coaching at the lower levels, bad luck, poor work ethic by the players, or some other reason?

None of the above. We're signing these kids at 16-17 years old. Baseball is different than football and basketball, where guys go straight from HS/college to making an impact at the top level. The best of the best don't get to the big leagues until 19-20, and those guys are often Hall of Famers. Have some patience - our scouts and coaches have earned our trust. A lot of clubs would be happy to have the young guys you're referring to.

Do you pay extra attention to the development of players that your front office brought into the Texas Rangers organization but have since left for various reasons (i.e. Robbie Erlin, Joe Wieland, Chris Davis, Christian Villaneuva, etc)?

Sure. It's part of the self-evaluation process. The biggest thing in a "buyer" side deal is to be sure the deal fits where the club is competitively, and the pieces you're getting back are going to have the desired effect. But we always want to know our own. It's inevitable we're going to give up big leaguers in the process, and it's human nature to follow them (we've developed relationships with them too).

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